Attachment for swifts



' M. GREENWAY ATTACHMENT FOR SWIFTS April 28,1925. 1,535,305

Fi l ed Deli 22, 1924 INVENTOR, (new Gwee'nwaT,

Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARRIETT GREENWAY, OF PATER'SON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO CHARLES EI-IRENTRAUT AND ONE-THIRD TO GEORGE HINDLE, BOTH 0F PATERSON,

NEW JERSEY.

ATTACHMENT FOR- SWIF'IS.

Application filed December 22, 1924. Serial No. 757,385.

1 '0 all whom it may coaccm:

Be it known that I, Mannrn'r'r GREENWAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of N ew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Swifts, of which the following is a specificw tion. i

The operations preliminary to forming a cop, quill-or other wound package usually include winding the yarn or thread on a reel, with crosses in the skein formed on the reel, and then collapsing the reel and removing the skein and fitting it to a rotary structure termed a swift, which is both portable and of such light weight that in winding the package it offers no resistance sufficient to rupture the yarn. The crosses are necessary to keep the skein in such order that the windings may be delivered without snarling and breaking in the forming of the wound package, especially as in many instances the skein in the meanwhile undergoes dyeing, and also to facilitate locating a break in the yarn during the winding of the package. They are maintained by lease cords passed between the crossed groups of windings after the skein is formed on the reel and before it is removed therefrom, being necessarily removed after the skein has been placed on the swift so that the unwinding from the swift can proceed. In the case of many yarns these crosses will remain in fairly well defined arrangement without special means to hold them while the unwinding is going on; but in the case of the more intractable yarns (i. e., yarns which are stiff and have superiorlife) the slightest disturbance such as that incident merely to withdrawing the yarn in unwinding, especially if the yarn has undergone dyeing, will obliterate them and the skein will assume such disorder that it is practically impossible to proceed. In consequence it is very difficult to unwind from swifts in the forming of packages of material of this nature, such as artificial silk.

My principal object is to provide a swift with means which will keep the crosses of the yarn well defined and intact, and to this end I provide yarn-supporting cross-pieces having radial separators for the crossed groups of windings, these having precipitate sides and also projecting to an extent sufiicient to protrude through the skein so that the threads of the several groups cannot shift laterally over and past the separator. It is a further object of this invention to provide a yaI'll-supporting cross-piece which may be readily assembled with a swift and particularly the type of swift having pairs of spokes and connectors joining the spokes in each pair.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a front elevation of a swift em bodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the crosspieee, removed;

Fig. l is a side elevation thereof; and

Fig. 5 a plan view of said cross-piece, showing the spokes of the swift in section.

The swift shown is of the type having the mentioned pairs of arms or spokes, a being its hub and 6 its pairs of spokes.

The spokes of each pair are bridged by cord connectors, forming supports substan tially parallel with the swift axis, which may be either cords 0 with loops at their ends fitted over the respective spokes, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or endless cords d fitted over the spokes, as in Fig. 5. These cords may as usual be slipped radially inward or outward on the spokes either in effect to collapse the swift or increase its effective diameter.

Describing the cross-piece shown in' the accompanying drawing and adapted for application in particular to the swift there illustrated, the same consists of a strip or plate preferably composed of some light and durable material like fibre, which is ie cessed in some way (as forked) at its ends so as to receive and be slidable and guided radially with respect to a pair of the spokes of the swift. Upstanding from it e the pegs 0, these forming the separators and having their sides precipitate as shown in Fig. l and being of such length as to pro trude through the skein whose thickness in Fig. 1 is indicated by the dotted lines B B. There may be any suitable number (usually three) of these separators and they are spaced apart a distance equal to the width of each of the crossed groups of yarn windings. the margins of which are indicated by the dot-and-dash lines A in Fig. 1. On the under side of the plate a are lugs 0 preferably two in number, and these are perfo rated in a line parallel with the plane of and extending longitudinally of the plate. The apertures of these lugs have threaded through them the connector 0 or (Z when the cross-piece is assembled with the swift as shown in the drawing, where the cross-piece appears radially out 'ard of and resting on the connector, its end recesses receiving the spokes and its separators projecting radially outwardly. 1n collapsing or increasing the cfi'ective diameter of the swift each connector and crossieee will be movable as one when thus coupled together.

\Vhen a swift has been equipped with the devices of this invention the attendant in fitting the skein to the swift arranges its crossed groups of windings so that they will alternate with the several separators where they cross any particular cross-piece, not removing the lease cords until this arrangement has been established. Thereupon, however intractable the yarn may be, the unwinding to form the package may proceed without any entangling or troublesome disturbance of the windings whatever, and if a break occurs in the windings it is readily discernible.

I am aware that swit'ts have been provided with cross-pieces which are serrated or roughened on their radially outer surfaces. These ser 'ations or roughenings, however. are merely intended to keep the skein more or less in its initially spread condition. and they have no influence nor are they intended to keep groups of windings or even individual windings permanently separated from start to finish of the unwinding operation, principally because they are not only not high enough to be effective tor this purpose but have inclined sides which allow intractable yarn to creep sidewise over them. only the innermost layers of windings are influenced by these serrations, in any event. the bulk of the skein being left entirely uncontrolled except by the mere massing of the windings which is entirely insanicient in the *ase of artificial silk and other intractable yarns to prevent losing the cross, as it is called, and the snarling of the windings.

Aside from the particular form of the spreader which the member 0 with its separators c constitutes it is new. so far as 1 am aware, to provide one which has means to couple it with a supporting member (as c or d, in the present example) extending substantially parallel with the swift axis so that when coupled therewith it will be shittable with such member radially of the swift; and specifically it is new to construct the coupling portion with an aperture through which said member is made to extend.

Having thus tally described my invention. what I claim is:

1. A swift including a skein-supporting cross-piece having projecting therefrom substantially radially outwardly spaced separators having precipitate sides and projecting to an extent sufficient to protrude through the skein placed on the swift and adapted to receive between them and positively maintain separated the crossed gI'OLUQS ot skein windings.

Q. In combination, with a swift having pairs of spokes and connectors each joining and slidahle radiallv ot' the swift on the members of each pair of spokes, a spreader consisting of a strip engaged with and guided by a pair of the spokes and having a lug projecting radially inward and penetrated by the corresponding connector.

3. In combination, with a swift having pairs of spokes and connectors each joining and slidable adially of the swift on the. members of each pair of spokes, a spreader consisting of a strip engaged with and guided by a pair of the spokes and having portions projecting radially with respect to the swift. some of said portions projecting outward and being spaced and adapted to receive between them the skein windings and another projecting inward and engaged with the corresponding connector.

l n testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

MARRIETT GREENVAY. 

